Should you watch Chinatown?
Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.
Chinatown
Film · 1974
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.
The sides of Chinatown
- A private eye hired to catch a cheating husband
- Water stolen from Los Angeles
- A widow with a secret
Chinatown is good for you if…
- you like a case that grows from an affair into a city's dirty secret.
- you can take an ending where the wrong people win.
- you like Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes, nose bandaged and all.
Chinatown is bad for you if…
- you can't take a mystery whose last secret is deeply disturbing.
- you need momentum and a patient investigation loses you.
About: corruption · power · the past
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